Coyotes’ hat trick
Trades bring in 3 players who boost team’s chances to improve
Since signing up for a rebuild two years ago, the Coyotes have accumulated the necessary draft picks and prospects to form a talented core.
But they’ve been missing a dynamic supporting cast to help the process by weathering the growing pains.
That jolt finally arrived Friday before the NHL draft in Chicago, as the Coyotes acquired No. 1 center Derek Stepan, a top-two defenseman in Niklas Hjalmarsson and the potential longterm starter in net with Antti Raanta.
“Building an organization, it ebbs and flows and sometimes you hit and sometimes you miss,” General Manager John Chayka said. “But I think we took a big step today. Got a lot of ground to cover still.”
Arizona kicked off the day by landing Hjalmarsson from Chicago in exchange for defenseman Connor Murphy and center Laurent Dauphin, a move that gives Oliver Ekman-Larsson a permanent partner on the top defensive pairing as Hjalmarsson – a left shot like Ekman-Larsson– can play the right side.
The two have actually worked together before, getting paired at the World Cup of Hockey for Team Sweden, and Ekman-Larsson was excited for the three-time Stanley Cup champion Hjalmarsson to join the Coyotes.
“He knows what it takes to win, and I think that’s what we’re missing right now,” Ekman-Larsson said.
Hjalmarsson – who had five goals and 18 points last season – looks like a solid complement to Ekman-Larsson because his strong defending base, which includes impressive shot-block-
ing numbers, gives Ekman-Larsson the ability to freestyle offensively without leaving the duo vulnerable. Murphy, who signed a long-term contract last year to appear as a core cog for Arizona, didn’t fill that hole like Hjalmarsson could, in Chayka’s eyes.
The 30-year-old has two seasons remaining on his five-year, $20.5 million contract, and his modified no-trade clause didn’t prohibit the Coyotes.
“Hjalmarsson is an elite defender, one of the best,” Chayka said.
Barely an hour later, the Coyotes made another major trade – bringing in Stepan and Raanta from the Rangers with defenseman Anthony DeAngelo and the No. 7 pick in the draft going the other way.
Stepan wraps the team’s search for a No. 1 center, as he’s held that role on a perennially competitive Rangers team, eclipsing 50 points five times in six fulllength seasons. He scored a career-high 22 goals in 2015-16 and is coming off a 17goal output.
“He’s just a solid, 200-foot centerman that can make plays, wins faceoffs, can play in all situations (against) top competition,” Chayka said. “He just checks all the boxes for a top-line center for us.”
The 27-year-old heard rumors he might be on the move and had a feeling if it happened, he’d be shipping out to Arizona. He’s just two seasons into a sixyear, $39 million deal that has a no-movement clause that begins July 1, but the Coyotes have the option of whether or not to honor it.
“I look forward to jumping into the Coyotes jersey and playing with some of the young talent they have there,” Stepan said, “and try do what I do in New York and try to bring that to the Coyotes and try to show them I can lead in that way.”
Raanta also expected he could be flipped, as he was primed to get a chance at being a No. 1 after thriving as a backup the past four seasons under the Blackhawks’ Corey Crawford and more recently the Rangers’ Henrik Lundqvist. He went 16-8-2 last season with a 2.26 goals-against average and .922 save percentage and boasts a career 2.32 goalsagainst average and .917 save percentage.
“I feel like I’m ready to take the one more step and be playing more and get the Number 1 spot,” Raanta said.
The 28-year-old was the Coyotes’ top target. He’s under contract for just one season, at $1 million, and then is eligible for free agency. Although Chayka believes Raanta is a long-term solution in goal, he said he isn’t in a rush to get Raanta locked up, with the goaltender probably motivated to show his potential.
Arizona is still evaluating the position but could be set with Louis Domingue remaining as the No. 2.
“Of all the goalies that weren’t elite starters last year, we think that (Raanta) is the guy that can do that,” Chayka said.
No salary was retained in the trades, which Chayka said he’d been working on for the past year.
The Coyotes had the flexibility to add these players, especially after trading goalie Mike Smith and deciding not to bring back former captain Shane Doan, but there was no guarantee they’d be able to acquire this caliber of help.
They delivered, continuing the upheaval that also included coach Dave Tippett parting ways with the team. The turmoil of the past week didn’t seem to faze Stepan and Raanta (Hjalmarsson was unavailable for comment), with Stepan describing the Coyotes as a team with young talent and Raanta pointing out lots of clubs are making changes right now.
More turnover could happen. Some key needs have been addressed but upgrades are still on Chayka’s radar. He said he was “pretty close” on other trades Friday but will circle back Saturday when the draft continues with Rounds 2-7. Arizona holds Nos. 35, 69, 78, 128 and 190.
With the 23rd pick, which the team received in the Martin Hanzal trade with the Wild, the Coyotes selected Pierre-Olivier Joseph – whom Chayka called a smooth-skating, two-way defenseman. The 6-foot-2, 163-pound 17year-old had six goals and 39 points last season in the Quebec Major Junior Hockey League.
“He’s aggressive,” Chayka said. “He competes hard. I think he’s extremely, extremely smart. I think he’s got a good skill-set. I think once he puts on a little size and weight, that’s going to take his game to the next level.”
Not until the final product begins to play next season will it be clear if the Coyotes did enough to spark a significant round of progress.
But these established pros certainly give Arizona and its youth a chance to be better.
“They need help,” Chayka said. “They need support, so that’s where you go, through free agency and trades to try to help support the group and spur some growth.”